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pain with breatfeeding

hi im have a 3wk old, im doing my best trying to stick with the breast feeding. how much longer for the sore nipples. sometimes it hurts and cringe at the thought of feeding. i purchases some cream for me nipples but it not helping that much. any suggestions.

Re: pain with breatfeeding

Have you seen a lactation consultant or talked to a LLL leader? It sounds like you might have a poor latch. I was in a lot of pain until we got better at latching on. You also might have a large milk flow and your child might be biting the nipple to slow the flow of milk down.

Re: pain with breatfeeding

i had terrible pain for the first month of breast feeding. once we got better at latching on, it still took a while for my nipples to heal from the bruising. i highly recommend gel patches that can be found in most baby sections of drug stores or stores like target or K mart calles "Soothies". before i used the soothies i was in so much pain that i would have a tear running down my cheek as my daughter began to latch on. the soothies made such an incredible difference in helping me to heal that i really believe that without them i would have given up. they are a little pricey-about 10 dollars for one set that can be used a couple of times-but i feel they are well worth the money. if you purchace them, i recommend putting them in the freezer for a couple hours before using them.

Re: pain with breatfeeding

The first 5 weeks of breastfeeding were the most painful. It felt like my nipples were sun burnt and I would cringe every time my son would want to feed. All he did was eat for the first two months and I remember thinking that I wouldn't mind him eating so much if my nipples didn't hurt so bad. I used Lanolin by Lansinoh as nipple cream and it worked the best but it did not prevent the pain. Your nipples will adjust it just takes a little while. They've never had to deal with this sort of activity before. Hang in there the pain wont last forever and your doing a great job.

Re: pain with breatfeeding

Congrats on your lo! You sound like me just 2 weeks ago. My nipples were so soar my toes curled when I fed her. I consulted a lc and everything was ok on that end. I used nipple cream and soothies to help. I swear, one day I woke up and they were just better and my lo is doing really well! She is now amost 5 weeks old. We have been pain free for about a week and a half. Hang in there, I was about to through in the towel and things got a lot bettet!